Sands School

Welcome to Sands School, a democratic day school for 11 to 17 year-olds.

Sands School is so different from the mainstream, it can be hard to know where to start to describe it. It looks different – there is no uniform or even a dress-code for students. It sounds different – there are no clanging bells or unnatural quietness. But mainly it feels different – there is no “us and them” division between staff and students.

As a democratic school students and staff run the school through the weekly school meeting, making decisions together in a spirit of equality and mutual respect. There is no headteacher, everyone is called by their first name, meetings are chaired by students and the student council sorts out the day-to-day niggles of school life. In short, a democratic school puts students views at the centre of everything the school does.